Stowaway
by DwDoJo
Summary: Mark finally found a chance to bring him out of the boredom, out of the richness of being... well, RICH. And it all started when he became jealous of a certain commoner on the bumpkin side of town. Background Story of Castaway. !UNDER REPAIR!
1. Who's Missing?

**Ah, now begins the background series of Castaway… So yeah, we have Chelsea's side of view in Castaway right? This will story will be showing a lot more back ground info (about Chelsea and perhaps some others too), and about Mark (MARK?)… but I won't say much more about that.**

**WARNING: You wouldn't have an idea what's going on though if you haven't read Castaway soooo… it's just a heads up. **

**Stowaway… Chapter 1: Who's Missing?**

**-x-**

The deep sky was absolutely beautiful, blue, filled with jumping clouds that were relaxing to stare at as they malignantly passed overhead, taunting the lethargic mood of every surrounding of mine. I loved the sky during summer's days, fall desperately trying to fill the picture but still has yet to come around to it. It was such a warm day to just lie around and -

"Master!"

I closed my eyes and sighed, sitting up from the fresh green grass I was laying upon. I growled as my servant stopped before my feet and bowed with respect, "What do you need, Allen?"

"Ah, sir. My Lady wants to see you." He answered quietly. I sighed again, not really wanting to leave the peaceful haven, but no matter. Mama wanted to see me and there's nothing I could do about it. I stood up and brushed away some grass that was sticking on me. Slipping on my jacket, I asked as we walked down the garden aisle, soon to be entering the McAllister mansion, "What does Mother need this time?" The never changing guards took hold of the handles of the door and opened it widely, allowing my servant and I to go through. The large staircase came into the clearing and we heard the tapping of heels going down the stairs.

"Oh, Mark, dear. Mark!" I heard my Mother cry as she quickly came down the steps. I walked toward her and extended my hand, which she took. As I helped her to the leveled granite floor, she finally spoke. "Oh, my dear Mark. Didn't you hear?" She asked warily with a worried face. I studied her for a while - her curled blonde locks gracing her cheeks and my own green eyes seeing its own reflection. Some would say that I was the exact copy of my mother..

I wasn't one to care for what's going on, nor was I up-to-date on things since I just lazily lay around all day to my discontent. "No, is there something wrong?"

"Lady Loraine's daughter, Chelsea, has gone missing!"

'Who in the world was Chelsea?' was my first thought. "Oh, that's not good." I said apathetically "concerned".

"Yes, my best friend's eldest daughter. First it was her son… now her daughter!" My pitiful mother sighed and tapped her foot against the stone floor, crossing her arms with both frustration and sympathy. She was shorter than me by a head, so the image reminded me of those high school girls way back when and their attitudes.

But… I truly didn't care about this missing person. I had no heck of an idea who this person was anyway.

"Oh," I started. "That's terrible." I lied.

"Yes it is… She's such a wonderful girl and has been through so much." She kept ranting on and on. "We must visit their family as soon as possible." My mother turned to her personal maid and told her about the change of plans, which she crossed out the ones before and quickly scribbled in my mother's words to her little note pad.

Allen walked up to me and handed me a newspaper. "It's on the front page that Miss Chelsea had gone missing." He stepped back, watching me blankly like a robot already designed on knowing what to do and when to do it. Does the kid have a life?

I shook and looked at the paper not very interested. It told of her family background, of how they drowned in a pile of pitiful debt, and that she possibly had ran away by going on a ship… a ship that was shipwrecked by an awful storm. They said that teams all around found most of the Castaways… Chelsea being the only one left to not be found and heard of. Whereabouts unknown.

Then there was a picture of her towards the side. She was dressed like any other commoner (you know, t-shirt and jeans. The usual fad between commoners) and didn't look like the high and prestigious position as she was apart of… What a weird girl.

I tossed the paper back at my servant disdainfully and began walking away. "Change of plans, Allen. I'll be going along with my mother to visit the family as well."

"Yes, sir."

I didn't know where I was off to, but walking along like this allowed me to think. I passed through the many halls of the mansion… where I lived. Most who would look at this place would think that it was beautiful, those with much money and power could only live in such a place and that whoever were to live in such a place must be something. But when I look at this place, I could only think that I didn't like it the way that most would. It was annoying living in such a place. There was rules to follow and things you must do at such a young age. I couldn't help but feel jealous of commoners who are able to enjoy and smile even if they didn't have as much money. I can't help but be jealous of those who could run away, like this Chelsea.

The rankings of how much money you have affected how people looked at you. They say money brought happiness, but where exactly was that? All I found was hurt and greed, unlike those out there who share their helping with others around. And though they had such little money, they still had excitement and joy in their poverty lives.

I would say that it was pretty screwed up around here.

And I would say that I've always wanted to run away. I would tell Chelsea that I was happy for her to be able to run away from such a terrible standard, but then I just had the oddest feeling that I was jumping to conclusions on to why she had run away.

I rubbed my temples as I paused through my trek through the mansion. "I'm thinking too much…"

-x-

**The Next Day…**

I looked at the home. This was a commoner's home. Chelsea's home, apparently. It was much smaller than what I had expected. I guess I had forgotten that they were stuck in too much debt. I looked at my mother who stood beside me, her face also puzzled, but she did her best not to show it. It was a yellow, small house, on the bumpkin side of the city. It had flowers growing from the window sills and some vines crawled up the side of the home. An apple tree was on their green front yard and the stepping stones clearly showed the way toward the front of the house. I found it rather simple.

Ringing the door bell, some loud stomping was heard from inside, some yelling to go along with it. The door suddenly jerked opened, followed by, "What do you want?"

I blinked at the eye bleeding sight. It was a fat woman, with baggy eyes and the puffiest cheeks I've ever seen. Her style of apparel was of the "trying to convince others that I'm an aristocrat" type, but the taste was horrible. She was plump and looked flared, but at the sight of us (possibly with light glowing in the background to add more dramatic affect that my mother normally brought), her face grew pale and she regained composure.

"Ah, I am so very sorry, My Lady.." She bowed, if it could be considered a bow since it more looked like piles of fat scrunching together for a moment then flattening out. "Forgive my rudeness, but what brings you here today?" The fat woman had a very puzzled and embarrassed expression on her face.

My mother shook her head and asked with the sweetest of her tones, "I would like to meet with Lorraine today, in regards of her missing daughter."

"Ah," The fat woman seemed disdained and disappointed by the mention of "missing daughter" which made me wonder. "Please come inside."

We both nodded and entered the house. It wasn't large and roomy as was the McAlllister mansion. It looked like any normal home that commoners would live in and it had that homey feeling that my "friends" explained to me. It was nice… well, everything except the plump lady. It was hard to ignore the wide woman with her taking much of the view.

"Auntie, who is it?" A soft lady-like voice asked. Coming down from the staircase was a young woman with long pale blonde hair that looked almost gray colored. She didn't seem that much older than me and she looked very beautiful indeed. Behind her followed a younger girl who held on to the young woman's sleeve. She was cute, with her hazelnut curls surrounding her face..

The fat woman turned to look at the young woman. "Erika, please take My Lady and her son to Lorraine. They're here to meet with them." Her voice was different than to how it was toward us. A very demanding and feared voice.

"Yes, Auntie." Erika nodded and gestured to us to follow her, guiding along the young girl before her.

We slowly followed up the small staircase and came to the second floor. There wasn't many rooms, but one especially caught my attention. Chelsea's room. Well, it was kind of hard not to miss it. There was a sign outside that clearly said, "CHELSEA'S ROOM", and the door looked battered, as if it could fall off its hinges at anytime, at the slightest touch. The other doors around didn't even compare.

"Melanie, please go inside your sister's room. You can sleep there." Erika had said gently and we watched the young girl quickly go behind the door to Chelsea's room, me afraid of the door and the danger that could possibly lurk from it and it only.

Erika continued to walk and stopped at a door at the end of the hall. She gently knocked three times then opened the door to reveal a lighted area, surrounded by white. Inside, there were white curtains that reflected the sunlight from the windows. All the room consisted of was a large bed with a woman laying upon it. The woman, I couldn't see…

My mother quickly went, joining the view and nodded to us. And with that, Erika and I stood outside the closed door.

"So… You're Mark, right?" She asked quietly… then corrected, "Excuse me. I meant -"

I shook my head. "No, it's alright. You may call me Mark." Normally, formalities would matter, but for now, I guess it wouldn't apply. "That woman in the bed was Chelsea's mother right? Is there something wrong with her?"

"She's very ill." She answered curtly. "Come, let's go get Melanie." Erika walked over to the door of Chelsea's room and knocked gently, creaking open the door. "Melanie?"

I peered within the room from behind her and saw that the room was quite empty. Normally, from what I saw in movies, I'd expect that it would be a girly and filled with things that were cute and pink, but the room was barely occupied, consisting of all things needed and important. The little brunette was laying on the fuzzy mat in the middle of the room, probably sleeping since her light snore was heard.

"This was Chelsea's room." Erika said to me in a whisper, sitting down and placing the little girl's head on her lap. "She wasn't at home a lot since she did so many jobs. That's why her room is like this…"

I nodded slowly and peered down at the little girl. "Who is this?" I asked, also sitting down on the wood floor as well.

Erika patted the girl's head gently. "This is Melanie, Chelsea's younger sister. She seems to be very tired today."

"I see." I looked around the room. Just being here gave me the oddest feeling. There was something I wanted to know since something finally gave me a little interest on this Chelsea character.

"I should probably tell you about Chelsea, judging by your curious face." She said, stroking the young girl's hair.

"Hmm… you are very good at this, reading me like a book." I replied with a smug smile.

"But in return, there's something I want you to do." Her voice was grave and her face changed. Though it was a very pretty face that could brighten up any day, able to replace the sun, it felt like all gravity just came down on us, the dark suddenly dimming.

I blinked, not expecting this response.

And suddenly, I got the feeling that things just got interesting for me.

-x-

**Don't get too excited. I will say my updates will just be as random as Castaways… **

**- Do Jo**


	2. Just By Sitting In Her Room

**Chapter 2: Just By Sitting In Her Room **

**-x-**

_It was odd. Very odd indeed. Mrs. McAllister had never before seen her boy to be so… strange? Awkward? Fidgety under the skin? And perhaps excited and interested? No… Odd. That was all she could say. Her son, Mark, was very odd. She raised him, partly since a lot of the time in Mark's childhood she would be busy, but she wasn't gone so long to not know of Mark's behavior. She knew her son was odd in not taking interest to things, basically disdained by the fact of his wealthy lifestyle that he has to live through every day until now, and that he was practically bored out of his mind that it was a possible thought for him to attempt to kill himself for pleasure. _

_But that was not the reason why she now says "odd". This "odd" was a different odd. Because her son, the one who could care less about anything, was now interested in something. The young man who sits at his wonderfully embroidered chair, legs crossed, cheek resting upon balled hand, a nonchalant glaze over his eyes and face, actually had taken a fascination that clearly showed in his expression. Something had caught his unexpected attention, probably hard for him to just let go and left unnoticed. _

_And whatever it was, she didn't know, but she was happy. She was happy, oblivious to the fact that it could start a whole new chapter, such as this one, in the McAllister household._

-x-

Mark glared at the piece of dust wafting about in front of his face. He really didn't like what he was doing, nor where he was being. He hadn't even known why it had come to this. It was like being addicted to crack. His feet led him here of all places. He didn't know why he woke up early just to stomp over and pout at himself angrily for actually following the commoner's (excluding the fact that she was obviously very pretty) demands.

And here he finds himself swatting the dust away, seeing it fly on the trade wins to its next destination to bother with - Chelsea's desk.

"Why did I come here?" He mumbled to himself, irritated.

"Probably because a certain little commoner caught you attention?" A soft, mocking voice replied from the door.

He looked up to find the person who knew exactly that she had led him to this position, Erika of the Acres, and he scowled. "Commoners aren't that interesting."

"Oh, being stubborn now aren't we?" She walked toward him and leaned forward, grinning now. "I see… So you became _jealous_ of a certain female commoner."

Mark spat. "Whatever."

Erika chuckled and pulled back her long pale blond hair. Mark was convinced it was silver, so shinier than gray, but her face looked nothing of a hag, as she was only but a few two years or so older than himself. She had sat down and sighed, giggling a bit, "Heh, I'm surprised you actually came."

Mark mumbled. "Me too."

"Haha, boy you must have problems."

"Gee, you're being quite rude to someone of superiority…" Mark mumbled more.

"Well, I could actually care less about that." Erika no longer had that grin on her face, but just an impassive expression. "If you're pertaining to money, I don't give a -" She stopped talking when the door opened, revealing a little brunette.

"Ah," Melanie started. "Did I disturb you?" The little girl's voice never failed to surprise Mark as it was so soft and sounded so delicate.

Mark let go of his breath, showing a look of gratitude to the little girl. He had forgotten that the woman before him was a Spartan when it came to those touchy areas of wealth and rank. He needed to remember that though she was pretty beautiful, it was all deceiving. Mark had no idea what had gotten the pretty rose to have thorns, but whatever it was, he doesn't even feel like getting on her petals.

Erika smiled gently at the little girl, who slowly walked up to her side and waited for a reply. The older answered, "No, Mel. You didn't interrupt us. Do you need something?"

"I … I wanted to say I hi to Mr. McAllister." Melanie answered softly, her eyes slowly meeting with Mark.

Mark blinked. "Well, hello… Melanie."

The little girl smiled softly, nodding. "Well… I better take my leave."

"Melanie, there's some food already set out in the table. Just get it when your hungry alright?" Erika said sweetly.

"Yes, Big Sister Erika." And that's when the angel left.

Leaving the devil to strangle Mark once again.

Erika's smile was gone, but the cheer was still there. "Melanie seems to have taken a liking to you."

"I wonder why though." Mark replied, leaning back and supporting himself with his arms. "She's a sweet girl and all. How old is she?"

"She's thirteen."

"And though, the three of them share the same mother, Melanie's father is Mr. Acres right?"

"Seems like something has gotten through to you for the past week."

Mark closed his lips, thin and straight. Yes, he had been visiting every day after his first visit. Why? He didn't even know. The way the woman before him made him so intrigued was because he knew that there was going to be something exciting once this door had opened, but why he keeps returning when that persuading was gone, he doesn't know. He felt like he was prying into the family since Erika would sometimes spill some information of the family.

One was of Chelsea's experience in kickboxing. Apparently, she had learned it just so she could beat up her brother, at first for competition, now for pure anger. Why out of anger? Apparently, her brother, which also happened to be Erika's supposed boyfriend/fiancé, had suddenly disappeared and joined a group of troublemakers in the city, leaving Chelsea quickly stuck as the head of the family at such a young age, being burdened by piled debts. Another was the fact of how Erika decided to stay inside the house of the Acres and how that big fat woman, dubbed "Auntie", ended up in the house. Mark had also learned of Chelsea's many various activities and jobs, which didn't impress him at all.

And just the other day, Erika left him off with a cliffhanger of how Chelsea and the eldest brother were step siblings to Melanie.

"Would you care to broaden more on the subject?" Mark asked quietly. He hated the fact that he found this family ever so interesting. It was odd to him that he was basically asking and prying out questions from Erika, who didn't seem to mind, but he wanted to know and he knew Erika had some idea up her sleeve.

"Jason, my boyfriend, Chelsea, and Melanie were all given birth to by the same mother, Mrs. Acres, but there was two different fathers. If you want the longer version…"

"Just say it. I have nothing else to do this afternoon anyway."

Erika paused for a moment, to think to herself, making sure that the story made sense in her mind. "The long simpler version of the story is like this. Mrs. Chastity Acres was just like any other girl on the village side of town. She had met Jason, a local neighborhood boy, and fell in love with him. They had eloped and moved out of the village and into a town nearby the city to get married in a church, enjoying their simple life together. Jason Jr. and, two years later, Chelsea were born.

"It was about when they were two and four when things began to get shaky. Jason Sr. was still fully in love with his family and adored them with every bone in his body, but he suddenly left one day, leaving a grave Chastity and two siblings who were at the age of five and seven. Chastity believed with her heart that her love would return, giving hope to her two children, who thought he went for a long work. What had happened to the father, nobody really knew. It was thought that he was dead for he never returned, but Chastity still yearned for his coming.

"That is, until Mr. Acres, still not in control of the household yet, had caught sight of Chastity and fell in love with her. She would appreciate his kindness, but would still reject his heart, until one day, Mr. Acres forced her into marriage with him. Mr. Acres also adopted Jason and Chelsea, who were almost eight and ten by this time. Mrs. Acres began to fall into sickness, the cause unknown. It is believed that it was depression, but once the doctors figured out the newly formed baby inside of her was much like a parasite, they figured they should kill off the baby."

Mark intervened. "I'm guessing that baby was Melanie right?"

"Correct." Another pause. "Mrs. Acres begged the doctors not to kill Melanie though, and miraculously, she pulled through and gave birth to her. But the aftermath had a life-lasting affect on her as it worsened her condition and made part of her body paralyzed. As for Melanie, since she was a healthy baby, she was instantly taken away by her father. Chelsea and Jason never got to see Melanie when she was a child as they were stuck in this house with their mother."

"Auntie and you weren't around yet right?"

"Nope."

"So, if Melanie was a healthy baby, what happened with her to be so…?" Mark didn't really know how to say it. The little girl's movements and speech were queer. It wasn't slurred or disordered like disabilities, but it seemed to lean more on the traumatized side.

"I don't really like sharing much about the incident. I'll just say it has lasting affects on all of us."

"So what happened with Chelsea's brother, Jason?"

Erika scowled. "Like his father, he disappeared too when he was like.. Seventeen due to being against the whole family and how it was tearing apart. He had a horrible way of showing up at the right places at the wrong times with his group of hoodlums and wreaking more havoc to poor Chelsea. He's also part of the reason why the debts are so stinkin' high, breaking laws and costing us more by using credits. The relationship Chelsea and Jason had was strained and everyone in the family went against Jason. I don't blame Chelsea for being pissed off at her brother. I would be too, smacking all the way until he yells uncle. But I don't think that Chelsea has lost hope for her brother, as she obviously still cares for him… stubbornly. I was also his girlfriend during that rebellious time and my own little episode series started there but I won't explain that. "

"What did you like in him?"

Her eyes smiled and sparkled. "Everything."

Mark gave her a confused look.

She ignored his look and continued. "Once Jason was disowned by Mr. Acres, Chelsea was in line to take care of the business and repay the debt that her family was falling into due to the collapse of the company. And though Chelsea would see Melanie, Melanie was not allowed to see Chelsea due to her father's orders and reasons. Mr. Acres, I don't know what kind of man is he, but he's a pain in the neck."

"Mmm…" Mark shifted to sit Indian-style. " Will the mistress ever get…better?"

"I don't even really know. I'm starting to be scared that she may forget little by little, until she has no memory at all."

"That is quite disturbing."

"Yeah."

There was a little silence between them, until Mark began chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Erika asked, not seeing humor in this at all.

Mark smiled. "I dunno what it is with you commoners, but your lives surely are something."

"We're no entertainment center, Mark."

"Heh. I know." Mark shrugged. "I just still don't understand why you want me to hear all of this."

"Remember I said there was something I wanted to ask you to do for me?"

Mark nodded.

Erika smiled. "This will help you, help Chelsea."

-x-

**I felt like I missed out in explaining some parts, so I read this over and over again, just to make sure. The story is going to be moving for Mark very soon, but at least I need to fill in some gaps in Castaway, right?**

**- Do Jo**


	3. Runaway

**Runaway**

**-x-**

_Mrs. McAllister was going insane. Well, not literally, but she was on her heels… frantic, spazzing._

"_AH! WHERE'S MARK?" She screamed down the corridors._

_Allen stepped out of Mark's room. "No need to worry, ma'am. Master doesn't seem like the type to leave without notice. He had left a letter behind." He pulled out the letter from behind, handing it gently to the frantic mother._

_She had instantly tore it open, scanning through the clearly written words. All she could mutter was, "He… left?"_

_Truly, she had expected Mark to leave much earlier, as early as childhood, just like his brother, but leaving now… was unexpectedly too late._

_-x-_

Mark sighed, rubbing his arms quickly. Compared to the city, the country side was so wide open that you could actually feel the cold breeze. It was already around the beginning of fall, summer ebbing away faster than he expected. It also has been three weeks since his last meeting with Erika.

He sat down against a tree, pulling out a map that was full of symbols and trails, also non-coherent. He untied the string and spread out the map before him, looking at where his possible location may be on it. But even an idea at where he could be was fruitless. To make things worse, he couldn't focus at all. His fatigue finally got to him after how many hours of being defiant to how hard work could note make him tired.

He never thought that farming could be so much work. The plowing, the stone breaking, the tree splitting, the lumber packing, and just staring at animals all day and watching grass grow was enough work as it is. He didn't even know how he ended up thinking farming could be fun and interesting. Now he was sure it was too much to handle. He also wonders how a girl like this Chelsea he hears about is able to keep up this work. Mark also didn't think that there was so many things he needed to know to make a flower grow. That too, he thought, was also exaggerated. After three weeks of listening to several different farmers and their opinions, Mark was seriously getting sick of it.

At least he has an idea of what that girl is doing every stinking day of her life, sweating her butt away under the merciless sun. Perhaps, hearing from Erika, he actually may be more experienced now since he's met with other farmers and didn't exactly start from chicken scratch. Now he grinned to himself, getting the inspiration he thought of when he was asked such a request to go out to the farming world.

He was asked to take over Chelsea's farm. But he wanted it to be interesting, to take over the farm before even asked. He plans to challenge Ms. Chelsea, just to see how experienced she is compared to him. And he felt it, that for sure, he'd win.

His grin grew to a smirk, now standing on his feet and trudging along the path before him. He finally found his place on the map; though, it was pretty far from his destination. He sighed again.

He still has a long ways to go.

-x-

Claire stepped back from her creation. It was broccoli cheese casserole… or at least, it was supposed to be. Instead it looked like a glob of green throw up with a splash of yellow mushed together. "Dang," She frowned, throwing the failed dish into the trash can. "No good." She looked down next to her to see her dog wagging his tail at her. "Sorry, Scotty. We're having hot dogs again tonight." She frowned when she saw his tail fall limp between his legs.

Claire moved away from her kitchen and walked over to her living room, sitting down on her small couch. All the chores were done, animals taken care of. And there was no reason for her to go to town. She already bothered her favorite blacksmith with lame jokes and played around with the kids. And though it was summer, there wasn't much to do and time getting slower wasn't helping either.

For once, she seriously wanted something… anything… to come knocking on her front door, giving her a new adventure, more excitement. Like those movies and dramas on tv. With love, romance, adventure, comedy, suspense!

She fell back on the cushions, turning upside down. "Gah… it's so friggin' boring."

**KNOCK KNOCK.**

She blinked. "Naw, that's probably the wind hitting something."

The knocks came again after a few seconds, now a little bit louder.

She knew she just thought to herself that she wanted fate to come knocking on her door, but there's no way that heaven would send it so quickly right? I mean, that's absurd. Wishful thinking, Claire would say to herself. There's no way new adventure would be knocking on her door just like she had asked.

There was some knocking, then, "Um, is anyone home?"

The voice startled her, enough to make her lose her grip and slide off her couch, hitting the wood floor hard. She instantly stood up, staring at her closed front door. That voice was all too familiar, but she wasn't sure. It's been a while since she last saw him. Perhaps his voice changed? And why would he be out here when he's actually from a super rich family?

She rubbed her head, jumping over her couch to the door sluggishly. She knew she was hoping too much. It wouldn't be her adorable little cousin waiting at her front door right?

"Ah, Claire. It is you." Mark smiled, setting down his bags beside him. "I'm glad I finally made it to Mineral Town. Whoo~"

"Hnuur?" Claire blinked a few times. "Am I seeing right?" She saw her splitting image. Except her hair was much much shorter than she expected and she was pretty sure her eyes were blue, not green.

"Uh, Claire, it's me… Mark. Your little cousin…" Mark said. "Don't tell me you forgot." He found cold hands on his face now, patting his cheeks.

"Guh, it can't be right?"

"Why are you so in denial, Claire?" He frowned, crossing his arms as the hands started ruffling his hair and patting his shoulders.

Suddenly, her eyes turned glossy, her mouth trembling. "M- M- M-M- Maaaaa~aaaarrrkk~!"

Before he realized it, he was glomped, being suffocated to death. He literally couldn't breath and brought up his hands to Claire's shoulders, getting ready to push her away, but before he could do that, the painful grip around his chest quickly loosened. He was now being swayed left to right.

"Aaa~aah~ Marky-boy it's been soooo long. I've missed you so much. You're just as cute as ever!" She bounced back, studying at him from afar with a big happy grin. "And you've grown so much! You're a head taller than me now! Hahaha." She began laughing loudly.

He knew she was always like this when it came to him. He rubbed the back of his neck cautiously. "Errr… yeah. Um, Claire?"

She suddenly paused from her boisterous laugh, to stare at her dear cousin. "Wait. What are you doing here?"

"About that…" He was cut off again by a, "Oh, before you explain, let's bring in your things and let ya settle down for a bit. I'll just take your things~" And now he just watched her disappearing into her home with his things.

Mark sighed. He really did love Claire, she was like his older sister, but sometimes she was so hard to work with…

-x-

"Wow, Mark…" Claire nodded thoughtfully. "Never knew you had it in ya…"

Yes, Mark told her partly everything. He said that he suddenly started getting interested in farming, and decided to leave the McAllister Mansion to pursue his new interest. He didn't see the need of adding the whole 'random poor Spartan lady asking him to take over farm while instead he planned to boot out the former farmer and take domination as a farmer to quench his undying boredom' part. Claire didn't really need to know; He knew that if she knew it was a girl he was going to boot, he was just asking for a long lecture and some butt kicking…

"So you've been working your butt off at different farms, studying your eyes out about farming?" She laughed. "Gee. You really put your heart into it. Maybe you would be better than me since I learned everything from scratch!"

"Sure, I do know what I'm doing, I just need to actually do them, application as you could say." Mark sat back on the sofa. "I decided to come here, hoping you could give me some pointers?" He said with a little hope.

"Well, of course!" She seemed really happy and fired up. "Makes things twice as exciting. I was also hoping if anybody in town was up to having a part time job here since I was breaking bones, but I'm guessing having you, my dear cousin, working full time is like hitting the jackpot." She rubbed her nose, smiling sheepishly. "I'll teach you what I know."

Mark smiled. "That would be great."

Claire stood up now. "You should go change. Those clothes aren't very comfy to stay in long."

He stood up, agreeing. "Yeah, it's getting cold out there."

"Summer nights are pretty cold." Claire picked up one of his bags and began dragging it into her room, but Mark had taken it from her.

"Is there no other room?" He asked quietly.

"Nope. Just mine and the living room." She answered, grabbing the bag.

"Then I'll stay in the living room." He said, turning around.

"It gets cold during the night, Mark." She wagged her finger. "Can't afford for you to get sick."

Mark smiled. "I assure you, I'll be fine in the living room."

She sighed. "Ah, well. I guess we can't have those fun slumber parties that we always used enjoy whenever you came over to my house anymore. How depressing…"

"We aren't five, Claire."

"I know…" She found her chance to take back the bag from his hands and began walking into her room with victory, "At least we could put your stuff in my drawer. It's like half empty anyway."

Mark followed her inside, finding a large room with a pretty big bed next to the wall on his left. There were also nice little decors and a window with cutesy curtains. He watched his cousin place his bag next to the drawers and open the bathroom door.

"You could use my shampoo and conditioner. The soap is liquid…" She added, "Lavender scented soap. Strawberry shampoo.. Just to let you know…

"Joy. I'll smell like you." He said sarcastically, unzipping his jacket.

"I actually smell great thank you." She then walked behind him and pushed him to the bathroom. "Even if you are a guy, don't just go strippin' anywhere you like."

"I wasn't planning to."

As the door closed, Claire chuckled. "Sheesh. Kids these days."

-x-

Claire picked out some nice looking briefs out of Mark's bag, smirking silly. "Wow, these are some nice undies. Uwah, Mark really is growing…" She folded them up and neatly placed it inside one of the drawers, along with the rest of Mark's underwear and boxers. The two were tight-knit cousins, so even personal things were a pretty normal topic between the two. Though, Claire thought Mark would think of it as awkward anyway, for her to be touching his underwear…Yeah…

Some startling loud knocks from the front door startled her enough to let another of Mark's briefs to fly into the air. The knocking was going on repeatedly and getting louder with every passing knock. She could easily guess who it could possibly be at her door as she flew to open it.

"Claire, open up." A stony voice ordered from the outside, loud enough for her to hear inside.

"It's my house." She answered smartly.

"I've got your hammer done." With this, the door flew open.

"Ah, wonderful!" She smiled and accepted her fixed hammer, inspecting her hammer closely. "Let's hope it doesn't break this time, yeah, Gray?"

Gray was the apprentice of the local blacksmith, his grandfather, as well as Claire's first few friends that she made in Mineral Town. As for insight with their relationship, he normally gets pissed off at how much Claire annoys him (but he doesn't admit to the proven fact that he likes her company and to the idea that his Grandfather, Saibara, approves of her). He is also not one to be a happy camper most of the time. Exhibit A: Now.

"Claire, if you break your hammer again, I won't be fixing it up for you anymore." He said stoutly, annoyance clearly written all over his face. "It's like what.. The third time already?" He stepped inside and closed the door to stop more cold wind to flow through.

"Haha. Yeah." She smiled. "I'll take care of it. Sorry about that… But thanks for fixing it up for me."

He sighed. "… It's fine -" He suddenly paused, his annoyance doubling as his eyes darted past Claire, obviously glaring his trademark glare.

Claire, who was confused at his sudden change of mood, turned around to spot her t-shirt and shorts wearing cousin coming our of the room with a towel slung around his shoulders and hair dripping wet. "Ah, Mark!"

"Mark?" Gray repeated as he watched her retreating figure stand next to the other man in her home. After how long of knowing Claire, he has never seen or heard of anybody of the likes of this Mark. This gave him an uncomfortable feeling.

"You'll get sick if you just leave your hair wet." She nagged.

Mark ignored her and walked toward Gray. After a moment of staring (which they had not realized that they were doing), Mark gave a simple smile, extending a hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Mark."

Like gentlemen, Gray took his hand, and both gave a short shake. "Gray." The blacksmith replied shortly as they let go.

"Ahah." Claire stood beside both of them, wrecking the intense mood. "Chill Gray. This is my cousin, Mark." She then frowned. "Urgh… I never mentioned him did I?"

"Not even a hint Claire." Gray muttered.

Mark smiled a little more. "You have some tough looking hands… I'm assuming you're a blacksmith right?" After receiving a nod from the other, Mark chuckled. "Yeah, you must be the Gray that Claire nags and rants on and on about in the letters she'd send me." Instantly, a pillow flew to his face, knocking him down.

"Eheh…" Claire kicked her cousin. "Just… you know… ignore my cousin. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"You not only talk about Gray though. You'd start talking about this Cliff dude and the Doctor here." Mark added, backing away a little. "I'm glad that I at least got to meet with the dude you rant about the most though."

Claire made fists toward her cousin. "You aren't helping any, Mark." She started trailing after Mark.

Gray was seriously amused. A whole new Claire in a flash. It actually made him laugh. Mark quickly hid behind him. "Eee… I think I made her angry."

"Did you?" Gray rose a brow. "Well, that's interesting."

"Sorry for giving off the wrong air, man." Mark said, stepping back a little. "It would be nice if we became friends here and now."

Gray smirked. "Normally I wouldn't say this… but I think we'd get along great."

"Perfect." Mark smiled, grabbing his shoulders and making him face Claire, a fuming Claire with a frying pan (Men don't mess with women and frying pans). "Then be a great pal and be my human shield."

"What?"

Gray was used that night as a human shield, taking on the affects of a rash and merciless Claire that night. And well, he also didn't know that later down the road he would be used again, with a much bigger role at stake. Perhaps in the end, he shouldn't have befriended them at all. But for now, we'll just leave it as it is and say that Gray was already tied in to what Claire called fate which Mark had brought with him as he knocked on her door. A sense of adventure, a savior from boredom, having something to do.

After all, that's what all of them wished for. Or at least we know 2 out of 3 wanted it … not sure about the other but for sure, he unwillingly will go along with it.

-x-

**HAR HAR HAR. Ah, what a chapter huh? Told ya I'd be quickly moving along the plot for Stowaway. Really all of this is just Exposition ( I think that's the word… ?) But once we get to the fun part… Hehe. :D **

**Anyway, hoped ya liked it ^^.**

**- Do Jo**


End file.
